Chairman has to deal with foes and the impact of scandal.

Published 12:00 am, Saturday, January 1, 2011

Democratic Chairman Dan Ramos says some of his biggest battles so far have been with partisans who claim he's overstepped his authority in shaking up local party leadership.

Democratic Chairman Dan Ramos says some of his biggest battles so far have been with partisans who claim he's overstepped his authority in shaking up local party leadership.

Photo: hmontoya@express-news.net

Leading Bexar’s Democrats is no party

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The phone system doesn’t always work at Bexar County Democratic Party headquarters on the far West Side. The shattered glass door of the graffiti-marred facade has something resembling a bullet hole through it.

A pungent petrochemical smell from a previous tenant permeates the warehouselike building that has served as the party office since April 29, but Chairman Dan Ramos has gotten used to it, chiding those who’ve claimed the aroma sickened them.

“They didn’t want to come to the West Side because there were too many Mexicans, there was too much crime, the building smelled of toxic chemicals. That went on for several months,” said Ramos, elected to a two-year term in March.

“How in the hell can this place be so poisonous?” he wondered, before answering his own question.

“We’ve got some real, real vindictive people, and it all has to do with my election,” Ramos said Thursday.

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Reeling from an embezzlement scandal, saddled with debt and wounded by midterm election losses, the party is struggling to regroup, but Ramos said some of his biggest battles so far have been with partisans who claim he’s overstepped his authority in shaking up party leadership.

At a meeting Tuesday of the county executive committee, Ramos will be backed by the new leaders he’s chosen for top posts including committees that oversee finances, precinct chairs and fundraising.

Even announcement of the meeting location produced drama: Rivals being ousted by Ramos met earlier this week and set the meeting for a downtown Luby’s. But with notices in the mail and details posted on the party’s longstanding website, a new official party website debuted, declaring a different meeting location — the Granada Homes ballroom — citing the likelihood of a large turnout.

“They can meet, but the official meeting is going to be at the Granada Homes,” Ramos said of his rivals.

One of them, D’mitri Kosub, blasted Ramos’s tactics and accused him of ignoring rules and dodging oversight.

“We’ve been working under a very stressful circumstance,” said Kosub, who Ramos said has been replaced as chairman of the business and finance committee. Kosub insists he’s still the chair, citing the local party’s “continuing rules.”

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The agenda will include the swearing-in of new precinct chairs and the chairman's report on rebuilding the party

“There is no means for the chair to unilaterally remove or add members to the business and finance committee. It shouldn’t (happen), but a lot of what the chair enjoys in terms of his authority comes from force of will and imagination, both of which he has in abundance,” Kosub said.

Ramos bristles at suggestions he has acted without authority. He said he follows state party rules and state election law, not the continuing rules.

“We’re going to have meetings — with or without quorums. That’s where people are claiming I’m violating the rules, but we’ve got business to do. I’m not going to wait for them to turn our lights off because we didn’t have a decision,” he said.

Keeping the lights on is just one concern, Ramos said. The party owes about $150,000 to the county for 2008 primary election costs, he said. It has a pending suit against two former officials, one of whom is under indictment, to recover about $200,000 that allegedly was siphoned from party coffers.

The party’s original debt was about $278,000, but was paid down in part with a reimbursement from the state for election expenses and cash contributions from officials including U.S. Rep. Charles Gonzalez and state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, both D-San Antonio; County Judge Nelson Wolff and Commissioner Tommy Adkisson.

Wolff and Van de Putte were among several elected officials who co-chaired United Democrats of Bexar County, which formed during the summer to help candidates in the fall campaigns. The group has been inactive since the Nov. 2 election.

Dwanye Adams, the party’s ex-treasurer, was indicted Sept. 29 on charges he embezzled and misused $202,000 of party funds. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison. A tentative court date is set in March, District Attorney Susan Reed said.

“There’s still a lot of money that is owed to the citizens of Bexar County,” Reed said earlier this week.

Even so, Ramos said, “there’s a lot of stuff that Susan Reed isn’t even looking at” regarding other alleged malfeasance, including “people that went along with misapplication of money.”

Ramos said he hasn’t gotten Reed, the Texas Rangers or the FBI interested in the other allegations, including claims of missing proceeds from a local inaugural ball honoring President Barack Obama.

“It looks like I’m going to have to seek help from the Department of Justice,” Ramos said.

Ramos said he’s determined to pay down the debt, but emphasized he was dealt a bad hand.

“We inherited a mess — no money in the kitty, collectors trying to get what was owed to them. Those who were previously in charge of the finances didn’t do a very good job, obviously,” Ramos said.

The party was evicted from its last two offices, he added.

“The party was in shambles,” he said, claiming that records were missing and computer files sabotaged.

Ramos, whose party activism started in the 1960s and evolved as a union leader at Kelly AFB, brought in Joseph Nazaroff as treasurer. The businessman said he’s been amazed by the malfeasance uncovered, and even more surprised by resistance to Ramos’ efforts.

“Why so much hostility? I don’t think it’s a racial thing. I don’t think it’s a political thing ... if everything comes out in the wash, there are people who must be indicted. This stuff did not occur by Dwayne Adams only,” Nazaroff said.

With alleged thefts spanning 12 to 18 months, “somebody along the line should have said, ‘Something’s wrong here.’ Why did that not occur?” Nazaroff questioned.

Regardless of the causes, the result was a damaged organization, Nazaroff said.

“If I was just a member of the community, I wouldn’t have donated to the party at that time because we looked like a den of idiots. We’re not idiots or thieves. We’re honorable people. In order to prove it — and that’s what you have to do after this embezzlement — you have to be more transparent and remove the part of our party that allowed it or failed to prevent it,” Nazaroff said.

Among the steps taken were creating the new website and securing bonds for the party’s five top posts, Nazaroff said. Fundraising efforts to attack the debt are in the works as well, led by Jose Gallegos.

Ramos said he’s trying to improve relations with Democratic officeholders, though he feels underwhelmed so far: “Why haven’t we gotten support from elected officials?”

Still, Ramos is determined to proceed.

“I call it the renaissance of the Democratic Party ... to eliminate any semblance of malfeasance. I promised I was going to clean house, and Jan. 4, that’s exactly what I’m going to do,” he said.